SILENT STEPS
by
Rabindra Nath Tagore
(The
Poem & Summary)
Rabindra Nath Tagore was an Indian
celebrity. He was a poet, patriot and a philosopher. He was born in 1861 and
wrote stories, plays, novels and poems. In 1901 he founded a school of fine
arts, which grew into Vishwa Bharti University. Initially, he wrote in his
mother tongue Bengali, which when translated into English, won great
recognition. It was in 1931, that he won the noble prize for literature for his
Gitanjali, which is a collection of songs and prayers offered to God. Tagore
was a patriot and a religious man. He was a man of nature, music and poetry and
he awakened the imagination of his pupils to the world of beauty, goodness and
wide sympathy.
The poem Silent Steps has been taken
from Gitanjali. The poem was published at the 45th no. of this collection. The
poet has deep faith in God and this faith has been expressed in this song.
Silent Steps
(The
Poem)
Have
you not heard his silent steps?
He
comes, comes, ever comes.
Every
moment and every age,
every
day and every night
he
comes, comes, ever comes.
Many
a song have I sung
in
many a mood of mind,
but
all their notes have always proclaimed,
`He
comes, comes, ever comes.'
In
the fragrant days of sunny April
through
the forest path
he
comes, comes, ever comes.
In
the rainy gloom of July nights
on
the thundering chariot of clouds
he
comes, comes, ever comes.
In
sorrow after sorrow
it
is his steps that press upon my heart,
and
it is the golden touch of his feet
that
makes my joy to shine
Summary
In the opening lines of the poem the
poet asserts his faith in God, by asking questions and answering them himself.
He asks his readers, whether they have not heard the silent steps of the God.
He says that the Almighty God comes to us secretly with the silent steps.
According to him the God had been coming to us and always comes to us.
Every moment and every age, every night
He comes, comes, ever comes.
The opening three lines of the poem
show poet’s deep faith in omni potency and omnipresence of the God.
The poet says, that he has written many
songs and has sung many, in all types of moods of mind, but all their notes
proclaim only the ever coming of the God. The omnipresence of God is showed by
the poet when he says that the God comes to him through the forest path in
summer, when the days are bright and full of scent. He says that not only in
summer but in rainy season also
He comes, comes ever comes
According to the poet, our creator and
the father of fathers, never leaves us alone and rescues us from all dangers
and troubles.
The poet says, that in every moment of
sorrow and grief, the God is always with us in our heart and the golden touch
of his feet makes our joy shine.
The poem is full of spirituality and
the Indian philosophy, that God never disappoint us but is always there, where
we need him the most. The poem is written in free form, without any regular
rhyming and rhythm pattern. The repetition of words ‘He comes, comes, ever
comes’ make the poem musical and recitable. The poem is a devotional song.
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